One of the many side effects of chemotherapy is anemia. Since the chemo is killing all blood cells, good and bad, the body oftentimes does not have enough red blood cells (RBC). When the hemoglobin level reaches below 8 g/dL, my mom needs a blood transfusion. Therefore, I looked up foods that might help with keeping her hemoglobin at a somewhat normal level, which is 12-15 g/dL in adult females. This was when I learned about Heme and Non-Heme iron. There are many different kinds of food that contain iron. The heme type is more easily absorbed by the body. This type includes chicken liver, clams and beef. The non-heme type includes the veggies, beans and cereal. We have to balance this list out with what is actually good and not good for a chemotherapy, cancer patient! No wonder the hospital provides dietitians. There so many different factors to a chemo patient's diet!
| Heme iron | Non-heme iron | |
| What is it? | Heme iron is found in foods that contained hemoglobin – animal foods including red meats, fish and poultry. | Non-heme iron is the form of iron found in all other, non-meat based foods. |
| Iron sources in food | A serving of chicken livers, clams, or roasted beef tenderloin contains all the iron you need for a day. | Non-heme iron can be found in vegetables, grains, iron-fortified breakfast cereal, lentils and beans. |
| Iron absorption | One of the biggest benefits is that heme iron is absorbed better than non-heme iron, andits absorption isn’t affected by anything else you eat. We absorb approximately 15-35% of the heme iron we eat, which is a lot! | Non-heme iron is not absorbed by the body as well as heme iron. Only 2 - 20% of non-heme iron is absorbed. |